Beijing won't require proof of COVID-19 test for some residents leaving city

[July 03, 2020]  BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing, starting on Saturday, will no longer require some residents seeking to travel out of the Chinese capital to show proof that they have tested negative for COVID-19, a municipal official said on Friday.

Given the declining number of coronavirus cases in the current outbreak, residents from low-risk areas no longer need to provide evidence that they have tested negative, Pan Xuhong, spokesman of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, said at a regular news conference.

Beijing has reported 331 confirmed cases in the current outbreak since mid-June. To stem the spread of the virus, residents from high and medium-risk areas have been banned from leaving the city. Until now, residents from low-risk areas, or areas with no confirmed cases for at least two weeks, needed to test negative if they wished to travel out of Beijing.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Roxanne Liu and Lusha Zhang; Editing by Alison Williams)

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